


Remember Me

by Mischiefkingwinkyface



Series: Remembering You [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Amnesia, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Demigods, Doctor Will, Doctor Will Solace, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Nightmares, No Beta, Past Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn, Smoking, solangelo, we die like Jason
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:55:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28529550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mischiefkingwinkyface/pseuds/Mischiefkingwinkyface
Summary: At 17 years-old, Will Solace lost his memories. He forgot Camp Half-Blood, the gods, and even Nico di Angelo. Despite everything, he managed to become the doctor he always wanted and move on from the blank space of his past.Nico never forgot Will. He still had nightmares about the day Chiron told him that Will would not be coming back. For years he had to pretend to move on until he finally decided to search for Will.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Remembering You [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2135883
Comments: 69
Kudos: 141





	1. A 'Chance' Meeting

Will Solace knew smoking was bad for him. He was a doctor, for goodness sakes, he knew more than most just how bad it was. Despite this, he had never quite managed to quit. No one knew he smoked, he made sure of that must. That’s probably why he was hiding around the corner from the hospital to have a cigarette on his break. 

Or he would be if his lighter worked. 

“You can borrow mine,” an accented voice cut off Will’s frustrated mumblings, and a hand held out a lighter to him. 

Will’s eyes followed the arm up to the man who spoke. Aa black fringe hung over pale skin and dark eyes, eyeliner streaked down his cheeks. Blood plastered one sleeve of his t-shirt to his skin. The young man frowned at him, cigarette dangling from his lips. “Do you want the lighter or not?”

“Please,” Will took the lighter from him and quickly lit his own cigarette before handing it back. “What happened to…?” He gestured vaguely to all of the other man. 

He looked down at himself as if seeing the damage for the first time. “You know you’re the fourth person to ask me that in the last hour? Maybe it’s a choice.” 

“You’re bleeding.”

“A very dedicated choice.” He looked up at Will with a sort of sad smile. “Since you’re asking for my life story, do I at least get to know your name, Sunshine?”

“Will, Will Solace,” Will answered, still not quite sure what he was dealing with. “And you are?”

“Nico di Angelo.” Nico swapped which hand was holding the cigarette to shake Will’s hand. That explained the accent at least. Something was familiar about him, something that Will couldn’t quite put his finger on. “Should you even be smoking? Aren’t you a doctor or something?”

“You try getting through med school with ADHD and dyslexia,” Will shrugged. “And don’t try to get me off topic. What happened to you?”

“Look, Will,” Nico lowered his voice, “I got collared by some bad guys, and I can’t get back… home.” He said the last word with a hint of bitterness. 

“You should be in the ER,” Will told him firmly. “In fact, you’re coming to the hospital with me now. Doctor’s orders.”

The hint of a smile crossed over Nico’s lips. “You are such a doctor, Sunshine.”

“I’m going to take that as a compliment.” Will put out his cigarette and held out his hand to Nico like one would to a child. He wasn’t entirely sure why he did it, but it felt right. 

At the gesture, Nico visibly crashed. He stared at Will for the longest time before taking his hand and allowing himself to be led towards the hospital. The man was a good couple of inches shorter than Will, so he kept having to break into a jog to keep up. 

“Sit down,” Will ordered once he had taken Nico into one of the cubicles in the ER. He was already washing his hands and pulling on a pair of gloves by the time Nico had processed the order enough to follow it. “I can fill in the paperwork as we go,” he decided. 

Only then did Will realise there was an entire sword hanging from Nico’s belt. A real black sword that definitely wasn’t appropriate attire. 

He found himself staring, paperwork clutched in his hand. What the hell had Nico been doing to get beaten up like that? He caught the look that Nico was giving him and looked back at his paperwork. “You should probably take the sword off.” 

Nico nodded but made no move to take it off. “Nico is spelt N-I-C-O. People get it wrong a lot.” He tried to peer at what Will was writing down.

“Date of birth?” Wil glanced up, expecting a fairly quick answer. 

Instead, he saw Nico staring at him all deer in headlights, looking like he was attempting mental maths. After way too long he answered, “January 28th.”

Will scribbled a note to himself to check Nico for head injuries before raising his eyebrows at the smaller man. “Year?”

“I’m still working that out,” Nico answered without missing a beat before seemingly regaining his senses. “I mean, 1996 I think?”

Will frowned. It sounded right for Nico to be the same age as him, but it should not that taken that long to get an answer unless he was lying. “Look,” Will sighed, “I don’t know what kind of trouble you’re in, but I just want to help. You need to be honest with me.”

“I promise you, you don’t want that,” Nico told him. “I shouldn’t even be here.” He started to stand before Will stood in his way. Nico gritted his teeth. “Get out of my way.”

“No,” Will crossed his arms. “Not while you’re still injured.”

“I told you to move.”

“Tell me what’s going on.” 

“William Andrew Solace,” Nico ground out. “Get out of my way before I make you. I should have listened when they told me not to come.” He started walking again, just for Will to catch his arm. 

Will was trembling from head to toe, head spinning from Nico’s words. “How do you know my full name? I barely know my full name. Who told you not to come here?”

Nico pulled away. He stayed there, tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry.” With that, he stepped into the shadows and faded away into nothing in front of Will’s eyes. 

That left Will stood there wondering what the hell had just happened. He found himself trembling, the words on the sheet in front of him swimming when he tried to focus. Whoever that Nico was, whatever he had wanted when he first spoke to Will, it was important. And Will knew he would have to figure it out.


	2. Tell Me Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico pays another visit to Will, and this time they actually do get to talk.

It was two weeks later, two weeks of learning nothing about the mysterious man, before Will Solace learned anything more about what happened that afternoon.  
He was leaving the hospital after a shift so long he’d stopped counting the hours to see none other than Nico di Angelo stood arguing with a receptionist, complete with sword strapped to his hip. Despite himself, Will stopped to watch instead of getting involved. 

“I know he works here.” Nico ran his hands through his hair. From the looks of things, he’d already done that a few times. “Dr. William Solace. I need to leave him an anonymous message.”

“As I have already explained,” the receptionist looked equally frustrated, “I cannot pass on any anonymous messages. You must tell me who you are.”

“And I told you-!” 

“Nico di Angelo.” Will strode towards him, causing the other man to spin around with wide eyes. “It’s a pleasure to see you again.”

Nico straightened, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword. He glowered at Will, obviously unimpressed by his presence. “Since you’ve already caught me, I guess we could, maybe, talk?”

Something about the way he said it made Will’s heart beat faster. The nervous lilt to the other man’s voice seemed al too familiar to be ignored. Will smiled and nodded. “Of course.” He held out his hand to Nico, all the while telling himself it was to stop Nico fading into the shadows again. 

Without hesitation, Nico took his hand and followed him outside. Nico kept staring with him with such wide eyes like he was staring at a ghost. 

Will halted next to his car, spinning to face Nico. “You need to start explaining things. Starting with who you are and how you know me. Okay?”

Nico nodded. He pulled his hands from Will’s. “Is there somewhere safe we can go talk about this?”

Will frown. Why on earth would they need to go somewhere safe? What could possibly be so important that they couldn’t just talk? Not knowing what else to do, Will unlocked his car. “I’ll drive.”

Nico didn’t say anything until they were on the road. He kept peering out of all the windows, his sword laid across his knee. Finally, he managed to mumble something that sounded an awful lot like: “You really don’t remember me.”

“I don’t remember anything before I was seventeen,” Will explained. “Did we know each other?”

Nico leaned back against his seat; eyes closed. He took a deep breath. “I was ten years old when I first saw you, but we didn’t become close until a few years later.”

“We were close?” Will held his breath. His mum had never told him much about his childhood. He had never met any of his past friends, and his mum kept a box full of things his wasn’t allowed to touch. Maybe knowing Nico would be worth more than he thought. 

Nico shrugged, his lips tugging into a soft smile. “You were, still are, the kindest person I ever met. You used to fuss over me all the time, and I… I wanted you to.”  
Will’s heart could have stopped, and he wouldn’t have cared. He couldn’t help but wonder what he wasn’t being told. It felt like there was a hole that wasn’t going to be filled. 

Soon, he was leading Nico up to his apartment, still insisting on holding the other man’s hand. Will turned the lights on in the apartment and led Nico to the kitchen.   
“Coffee?” He asked as he put on the coffee machine. If there was one thing Will needed in that moment, it was coffee. 

Well, that and maybe a cigarette. 

Nico shook his head, leaning against the kitchen counter. He was still wearing that sword; his fingers wrapped around the hilt at the slightest noise. Wil had never met someone so twitchy before. 

“Are you Italian?” Will asked the question just to fill the silence. He had never been much good at quite; it always set him on edge. 

Much to his surprise, Nico laughed. It wasn’t a sweet sound, nor was it amused. It was a bitter laugh, coloured by disbelief. “Yes,” Nico said once the laughter had faded. “I’m Italian, but my father’s Greek.”

The pair fell quiet, neither of them quite sure what to say. Will was clutching at his coffee to enjoy the warmth. “Can I ask you something? I wasn’t allowed to know about before…” He trailed off. In all honesty, Will had never been told what caused his memory loss. 

Nico nodded once. 

“Where did we meet?” It had been bothering Will since he first laid eyes on Nico. Something was so familiar, yet he had no way of knowing how or why he knew the person stood in front of him. 

“We met at camp,” Nico answered quickly. “It was summer camp.”

“Summer camp,” Will repeated. He’d gone to summer camp as a child. He’d had childhood friends… and one of them was stood in his kitchen with an actual sword. “I went to summer camp, and I had a friend there.”

“You were a head counsellor. Best one cabin seven ever had.”

At the pride in Nico’s voice, Will found himself straightening a little. 

Nico frowned suddenly and started digging around in his pockets for something. He pulled a necklace from his pocket and held it out to Will. It was a simple chord with eight beads on it. Each one was adorned with some kind of picture or symbol. Without saying anything, Nico held it out to Will as if expecting him to take it. 

Will tentatively took the chord from Nico’s hand to look at each bead. It was undeniably familiar, but he couldn’t pinpoint what any of it meant. His chest felt tight at the news of a whole life he couldn’t remember and had never allowed himself to think about before. “Was this mine?”

“You gave it to me before you left to go on a trip one summer,” Nico’s voice cracked, “and then you never came back.”

Before he could stop himself, Will put down the coffee to pulled Nico close against his chest. He couldn’t help but notice how perfect they fit together with Nico’s head tucked under his chin.

The smaller man melted into the embrace. He gripped Will’s shirts with both hands and whispered, “I missed you. I know you don’t remember me, but I missed you.”  
“I think,’ Will spoke into Nico’s hair. “I think I missed you too. I think you were what’s been missing.”

Nico looked up at him, eyes full of tears. His eyes grew wide, and he pulled away. “I need to go. Annabeth is going to kill me when she realises I’ve gone.”

“Wait.” Will caught Nico’s arm. “Don’t go.”

“I’ll be back,” Nico promised, stepping away from Will. “I’ll see you soon, Sunshine.”

With that, he stepped into the shadows and disappeared like before. This time Will was left still holding onto the necklace. This time Nico had promised to come back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you for reading. 
> 
> I really appreciate any and all comments. It is my hope that you all find this worth continuing to read as the story progresses. We still have a lot to cover.


	3. Three Days at the Infirmary, Take Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will starts noticing things changing around him, and Nico pays him a surprise visit in the early hours of the morning.

Nico di Angelo was haunting Will. Literally.

Wil would be minding his own business just to turn around and see Nico stood there out of nowhere. A few times he had looked pale and swayed on the spot, but he always disappeared into the shadows again moments later. 

The entire thing had been harmless. So what if this mysterious man wanted to check up on Wil sometimes? Then it was two in the morning and Will was woken up by something crashing into his door. 

He grabbed the nearest textbook, which still had a yellow overlay stuck out the top and went to investigate what could have possibly flown into the door. What he hadn’t expected was to find a half-conscious Nico collapsed against the wall.

“What. The. Hell?” Wil stood over Nico, taking in the pale, clammy skin and blood splatter on his clothes. This was starting to look an awful look like their first meeting. 

Nico looked up at Will. His chest heaved with the effort just to stay awake. “I didn’t know where else to go. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do.”

"It's okay," Will soothed. "Let's get you inside before you pass out."

“Never thought I’d hear you say that again, Sunshine,” Nico snorted. He stumbled once he was on his feet, almost falling into Will and cutting off any questions Will was about to ask. 

Will steadied him. He led Nico over to the bed and helped him sit down, kneeling in front of the other man to look at the blood covering his shirt. “Where’s all that blood coming from?” He asked. “Do we need to go to the hospital? Do you need an ambulance?”

Nico let out a breathless chuckled. He lifted one hand to touch the chord necklace that had taken permanent residence around Will’s neck. “Not my blood. Another funeral tomorrow.”

Funeral. Someone had died, and Nico had turned up on his doorstep for help. Someone was dead. Nico was covered in blood, and someone had died.  
Will needed to lay down. 

Except Nico looked really beaten up, and the doctor in Will couldn’t let him overlook that. He tugged Nico’s shirt off over his head, beyond relieved to see that the blood was someone else’s. 

Every time he touched the other man, Will could feel a kind of darkness crawling around under his skin. Add that to the list of things that had been wrong since meeting Nico di Angelo. A long list by then. 

“Do I need to call the police?” Will asked, suddenly away that there must have been a crime to cause Nico to be covered in so much of someone else’s blood. 

Nico shook his head. He fell back on the bed, as his eyes had already started to drift closed. “No, no police. I can explain.”

That was the last thing Nico managed to say before passing out cold. 

Will laid beside Nico. He rested his head on Nico’s chest to listen for a heartbeat. Soon enough, he found himself drifting asleep as well. 

For the first time since before he lost his memory, Will Solace dreamt of Camp Half-Blood. 

In this dream, Will was fifteen. He was sat on a cot in what looked to be a hospital ward. Beside him, teenage Nico di Angelo was sat cross-legged, staring down at the floor. 

“It’s your last day,” Will elbowed Nico, earning a soft laugh. “What are you going to do with your new freedom?”

Nico shrugged. He rested his head on Will’s shoulder. “Sleep without you waking me up?”

“I had to take vitals!”

“You did it so much, I’m surprised I didn’t run out.”

“That’s not how that works.”

“Sure.”

“Doesn’t matter. We’re still eating together.” Will produced a piece of paper out of his pocket. He waved it at Nico with a grin. “Doctor’s orders, Sunshine.”

Will woke up with a start. The bed was still occupied next to him. For the first time ever, the bed didn’t feel empty. He leaned over to touch Nico’s hair behind his ear, not that Nico even stirred at the touch. 

“Who was I?” Will whispered. “Who are you, Nico di Angelo?”

Nico didn’t awake until hours later. It was only after Will had showered, made breakfast, and completed several other chores that Nico appeared from the bedroom. Nico was still shirtless when he walked in, and Will realised, with a start, that he wasn’t wearing that sword. The first thing he said to Will when he walked in was, “I’m sorry.”

“I had a dream last night.” Will played with the beads on his necklace, not daring to look straight at Nico. “You were in it. We were kids, well teenagers, and were on this ward and I told you it was your last day and…” He trailed off, not entirely sure why he was telling Nico in the first place. 

“And you asked me what I would do with my freedom,” Nico finished for him. The look on his face was haunted, voice barely audible even in that quiet kitchen. “I told you I would sleep without you waking me up.”

Will squeezed his eyes closed. It couldn’t be real. There was no way any of this was happening. It was impossible. 

Cold hands cupped his face. Nico held him as if he were about to break. “Is that all you remember?”

Will nodded. He kept his eyes squeezed shut as if that would block out the whole ordeal. Even then he could feel Nico stood only inches away.

“If I tell you what that dream was,” Nice ventured, “will you come back with me?”

Will cracked open one eye at that. The promise of new information too much to resist. He rested one hand against Nico’s cheek. “I’d do anything,” he breathed. 

Nico smiled sadly, grasping on of Will’s hand to move it to his bare shoulder. The skin there had deep grooves in it from scars that formed years earlier. “I got hurt. You found out after you dragged me to the infirmary. You made me stay there for three days, wouldn’t even let me leave for meals.”

Despite himself, Will found himself smiling. “I must have been a nightmare.”

“You were,” Nico laughed, “but we grew close over those few days, so I forgave you.”

Something about the feeling of Nico’s cool skin pressed against his own made Will relax. In all the time he could remember, Will had never felt like that before. He never wanted it to end.

“It’s like a fog lifted the moment I met you,” Will murmured.

The touch was withdrawn in an instant; Nico ran his hands through his hair with look nothing short of frantic. He was mumbling under his breath in what Will presumed to be Italian. 

The next thing he knew, Will was being pushed into his bedroom with the orders to pack a bag. As he threw clothes into the biggest bag he could find, he heard Nico talking to someone. 

“Look, I need you, Annabeth, and Chiron. Keep everyone else away,” Nico was saying. 

The voice that answered was deep and very confused. “Where are you? Did something happen?”

“I’m bringing someone with me.” Nico lowered his voice, but Will could still hear. “He’s confused, and I don’t want anyone else to know.”

Both voices fell silent until the one Will didn’t recognise spoke again. “Cabin thirteen.”

Nico pushed the door open seconds later with enough force that it hit the wall with a loud bang. He pulled a t-shirt from Will’s drawers and pulled it over his head before holding out his hand. “Let’s go, Sunshine.”

Will stared at Nico’s hand a while, trying to figure out how much he trusted the mysterious man. Before he could change his mind, Will swung the bag over his shoulder and grabbed the other man’s hand. He couldn’t doubt he was doing the right thing. 

“Hold tight,” Nico grinned. This time, when he melted into the shadows, Will went with him.


	4. Welcome Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will arrives at Camp. He starts finding out more about who he was to Nico.

There were three people stood talking in the cabin when Nico and Will stepped out of the shadows. A man with dark hair and sea-green eyes caught Nico when he stumbled. 

The other two, a woman with blonde hair and an older man in a wheelchair, were both staring at Will. The woman turned to Nico; the blood drained from her face. “Is he really…?”

“Alive,” Nico confirmed as he returned to Will’s side. “I told you I never felt his death.”

The man who caught Nico gawked at Will, looking thoroughly confused. He looked between Will and Nico and few times before addressing Will. “So,” he rubbed the back of his neck, “you didn’t die.”

Will was starting to feel faint. He was supposed to be dead? These people knew him, and he had no idea who they were. He’d never had to deal with people with who knew him back then, and he found himself grateful to his mother for not putting him through that before, when everything felt so new.

As if sensing his discomfort, Nico laid a hand on Will’s arm and pointed to each person in turn. “This is Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Chiron.”

Will repeated each name under his breath. He almost begged Nico to stay when the older man, Chiron, called him away to ‘talk’, but stopped himself. If Nico was relaxed enough to leave him here, Will had to trust the man he was willing to jump through shadows for. 

But as Nico walked away, the faces in the room became true strangers. They were both staring at Will like he was some sort of spectacle, eyes wide and jaws almost to the floor. Annabeth was the first to recover and looked him up and down with a critical eye. “Do you know who I am?”

“Annabeth Chase,” Will parroted, the same way he’d been doing for years. The way that made people believe he was smart and hid the blanked-out memories that stole his childhood from him. 

Percy tapped a pen he’d produced from his pocket against his leg. “This had got to suck for you, right? This sucks when you’re twelve, but it’s gotta really suck doing it a second time in your twenties.”

Annabeth shot him a glare before looking back at Will. “What has Nico told you exactly?”

“That we went to summer camp together,” Will answered, “and that he once spent a few days in the infirmary here.”

“Once,” Percy snorted before seemingly realising something and pointed that pen at Will. “You agreed to shadow travel here without know what it was?”

“Yes?” Will wasn’t exactly sure what Percy meant by ‘shadow travel’. He wasn’t sure about a lot of things anymore. 

All he wanted was for Nico to come back from his ‘talk’ with Chiron and save him from Percy. 

Percy himself was still talking. He had launched into some speech about how shadow travelling freaked out the campers while still waving around that pen. The air was already filled with enough sound that neither Annabeth nor Will felt the need to join in. 

The door crashed open as Nico stalked in. He was glaring at no one in particular, causing Percy to fall silence. Then he looked at them and uttered a single word. “Leave.”

“What did Chiron say?” Annabeth asked, standing her ground better than Percy, who was already halfway out the door. 

“Leave,” Nico repeated.

This time they left without argument. 

Will stayed. He moved to Nico’s side. “So,” he said gently, “what did Chiron say?”

Nico tugged off the shirt he’d taken from Will’s apartment and threw it to one side without a second glance. “He doesn’t want you introducing to the rest of camp until tomorrow because of the funeral.”

“Did one of the kids die?” Will asked. He sat on a bunk, watching Nico search for something. Part of him wanted to ask about the scars that covered the other man, but he figured it wasn’t the right time. 

“No,” Nico shook his head. “She was my age. One of the Ap- Cabin Seven archers.”

Cabin Seven. Will knew that’s where he had stayed while attending camp. Had he been an archer?

He looked up at Nico. “Did I know her?”

Nico nodded, refusing to look at Will. He ran his fingers through his hair. “Pick a bunk. I’m going to shower before the funeral.”

Before Will could ask anything else, Nico was gone. Will found himself wandering around, looking at anything he could get his hands on. He found a picture of him and Nico, both around sixteen years-old, with his arms around Nico’s shoulders. They were stood in the sun in matching Camp Half-Blood t-shirts and chord necklaces. He was still staring at that picture when Nico came back. 

Nico was pulling his hair back into a ponytail, now wearing a t-shirt like the one in the picture. He looked over Will’s shoulder. “We should talk.”  
Will put the picture down. “How close were we?”

Nico shook his head. “We should talk after the funeral.”

“Do I wait here then?”

“Maybe get some rest,” Nico suggested. He fastened a necklace like Will’s around his neck before leaving the cabin once again. 

Once Nico was gone, Will decided to take his advice. He fell asleep on the bunk he’d been sat on. The sheets smelled of Nico. 

In his dream, Will was seventeen, and he was packing. Nico was sat on his bed, pouting. 

“Why can’t I come with you?” Nico argued. “What if something happens?”

Will laughed gently. “Nothing is going to happen, Sunshine. I won’t even be gone that long.”

He tried to zip up his bag, but Nico caught his hand. Will didn’t have the heart to pull away. Instead, Will held Nico’s hand in both of his. “What if I leave you a promise?”

Nico nodded, so Wil released him to take off his necklace. He gave it to Nico, pressing it into the other boy’s palm. “There,” Will smiled, “now I have to come back to get it.”

“You’re still missing something,” Nico blurted out when Will grabbed his bag. 

Will froze. “Oh really?”

Nico got up. He stood on his toes to stand eye to eye with Will. Before Will could ask what he was doing, Nico pressed a kiss to his lips. 

“Was that for good luck or to remember me by?” Will asked.

Nico shrugged. “I’ll know when you come back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, the Apollo Cabin gets involved. 
> 
> Also, any guesses who died?


	5. Cabin Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will has to step forward to meet his siblings for the first time since arriving at camp. Luckily, he has Nico and Percy to help him through it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry this one took a while. With the third lockdown here in England, I've been pretty busy trying to get things sorted.

Will never told Nico about the dream. He had intended to, but Nico had come back in tears and refused to even look at Will. Neither of them particularly felt the need to speak to each other for the rest of the day outside of Nico asking him what he wanted to eat. 

It wasn’t until Will was sat watching Nico burn part of breakfast the next morning that he spoke up. “Do I get to leave the cabin today?”

Nico glanced up. He waved a piece of bacon at Will. “Chiron is keeping Cabin Seven after breakfast, so you can meet them first.”

Will put his own breakfast down, as Nico bit into that piece of bacon. The idea of meeting them made his heart pound and his palms sweat. There was this unshakeable feeling that he wasn’t being told something. “I want to know about everything first,” Will fixed Nico with a stern look. “I want to know everything about camp.”

“Everything?” Nico almost dropped his food. 

Will smiled, nodding eagerly. He had never felt so in his element. “I don’t want to meet my old cabin without knowing anything about them. 

Nico just stared at him in stunned silence. He slowly laid aside his own place and moved to sit up against Will. “Promise me you won’t freak out.”

It was less a request, more an order. 

“That’s a terrifying sentence,” Will noted. 

Nico shook his head. “Promise me.”

So, Will did. He promised not to stay calm, to trust Nico about all this, to let himself be guided into whatever had been holding him back. He did the only thing he could do. He promised. 

“You’re not human,” Nico started, and everything began to make sense. 

It all unfolded from there. The Gods, the heroes, the wars. How he was the son of Apollo, and Nico the son of Hades. The years of living at camp to run the infirmary and practice archery alongside Kayla. Every long summer and mild winter he didn’t remember. Nico knew it all. 

The only thing Nico didn’t tell him was what they meant to each other. That one, Will had to ask himself. 

Nico had finished speaking and was staring at Will like he was about to combust. 

Will bit back a smile, almost giddy from what he’d learned. “I have one more question.” 

Nico nodded slowly. “That’s… Yeah, okay.”

“Where do you fit into all that?” Will asked. “I know you’re the son of Hades, but where do you fit into the rest of it?”

Nico blinked at him. Then he blushed and shuffled away. 

Apparently, Nico di Angelo could jump through shadows, but not tell Will that they used to date. 

Will leaned forward, reaching to rest his hand against Nico’s cheek. “Never mind,” he murmured. “I think I can guess.”

Nico leaned into the touch, closing his eyes with a sigh. 

“Hey, Chiron wants you two- Oh My Gods.” Percy stood in the doorway, laughing behind his hand. 

Nico batted Will’s hand away and glared at Percy. “What do you want, Jackson? We were talking.”

“Sure,” Percy laughed, “talking.”

Will couldn’t help smiling. He’d never had the easy relationship Nico and Percy seemed to have in that moment, never been able to just know someone like that. Being given that opportunity was refreshing to say the least. 

“Did you say someone wanted us?” He asked, not even trying to hide his enjoyment of the scene in front of him. 

“Chiron has Cabin Seven. You coming?” Percy waved for them to follow him with a grin. “You’ve already won me a bet.”

Nico looked murderous, but he didn’t argue. Will suspected Nico was keeping his mouth shut for him. 

There was nothing more nerve wracking to Will than walking through Camp Half-Blood to meet his old cabin. He couldn’t help but slow his pace the closer they got, his hand going to his necklace to remind himself that he did belong there. Nico had told him to keep his head down on the way there, but Percy still had to act as a shield from whispering campers. 

Will froze only steps away from the entrance to where he saw a single table still filled with Campers. He stepped away, shaking his head. “I can’t do this.”

Percy rested a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, and Nico took Will’s hand in his. Nico tugged Will forward. “It’s okay. The Apollo Cabin is usually one of the nicest.”

“Usually,” Will echoed.

The moment he stepped out with Nico and Percy of either side, the previously chattering table of campers fell completely silent. A boy of about seventeen, covered in freckles, stood up. His voice came out in a harsh snap, cracking on the last syllable as he gestured to Will. “The Hades is this?”

Chiron was in his wheelchair and spoke calmer than Will felt. “May I present Will Solace, son of Apollo.”

Will could have passed out. Will wanted to pass out. He felt himself sway, and Percy’s grip on his shoulder tightened. 

The boy was shouting then, slamming his hands on the table while the other’s looked on in horror. “First di Angelo doesn’t even face us to tell us that Kayla’s dead, doesn’t speak the entire funeral, and now he produces Will freakin’ Solace out of thin air. And after what? Seven years?”

Nico clenched his jaw. 

“Lawrence Atwood,” Chiron spoke over the noise without raising his voice somehow, “I understand you’re angry, but Will’s life is a gift from the gods.”

Lawrence looked like he was about to start firing arrows. He marched straight up to Will despite being the best part of a foot smaller and pushed his chest. He was no longer shouting, his voice low and threatening. “Where were you when we burned your shroud? Where were you when the infirmary almost fell apart? Where were you when everyone who loved you, your family, were mourning you day and night?”

Will stumbled into Percy and vaguely felt Nico let go of his hand. 

Nico was only a few inches taller than the boy but seemed to gain extra height from anger alone. “You’re supposed to be a head councilor, Atwood, act like one.”  
“I remember him leaving!”

“Di immortales, now you remember him coming back as well. Except, he doesn’t remember leaving, so this is your worst first impression yet,” Nico snapped. He glared down at Lawrence until the boy backed off and returned to his seat. 

Lawrence threw himself down. “You can kiss my quiver, di Angelo.”

Nico ignored him and addressed the rest of the table. “Anyone want to add onto that?”

A few campers shook their heads while others mumbled quiet apologies on their sibling’s behalf. No one seemed to be in a particular rush to take on Nico di Angelo.

“Will is staying with me in Cabin Thirteen for now. If anyone would like to politely introduce themselves, that where you can find us. Until then,” Nico looked over at where Will was still leaning against Percy, trying not to cry, “we should take out leave.”

Nico grabbed Will’s hand and left with Percy trailing close behind. As he walked out, he called over his shoulder: 

“Don’t forget you lot have sword practice with me tomorrow, so I suggest one of you talk some sense into Atwood before then.”

The next thing Will knew, he was throwing up in some bushes near Cabin Thirteen while Percy and Nico hovered anxiously nearby. Nico kept stepping forward and reaching towards Will then immediately recoiling back again. 

Percy stage whispered to Nico, “Should we go get a healer?”

“Didn’t we just come from there?” Nico hissed back. “What do we do, Perc?”

The pair behind him fell into silence as Will lowered himself to the floor. He ducked his head between his knees and tried to remember to breath. The ground was swaying beneath him, and it was taking all his strength to not pass out. 

Nico took a tentative step forward. “Are… you alright?”

“That’s a stupid question,” Percy commented. 

“What else am I supposed to say?”

“Do I look like Annabeth to you? I don’t know.”

Will’s chest was tightening in on itself until he could barely breathe at all. His ribs had turned to iron and his lungs to lead, keeping him weighted to the floor. He barely felt Nico’s hand on his shoulder, the worried voice starting to talk in his ear. 

Another voice joined Nico’s, one that didn’t belong to Percy. Familiar freckles hovered in his eyeline right before two pairs of hands hauled Will to his feet.  
Nico’s hand was gone from his shoulder a moment later. 

Nico was stammering something behind him, and he could feel Percy’s hands gripping his arm to keep him upright. Nothing made sense. The whole world swam below Will’s feet, but he couldn’t fall. He couldn’t even convince his feet to step forward. 

The hands moved from his arms, and someone lifted Will off his feet. He presumed, hoped, it was Percy, but it was hard to tell. The next thing he knew, he was being put on a bed in Cabin Thirteen. 

His vision started to clear to see everyone staring at him. Nico hovered near the door while Percy stood with Lawrence next to the bed. 

He reached for something to say, anything at all, as he sat up against the headboard. Everyone was staring at him. All he wanted was to let them know he was still there, even if it seemed like he was lost. Eventually, he managed to grasp onto a single sentence, dragged it from his throat and over his tongue. “I need a cigarette.”

Lawrence tutted and mumbled something about how bad cigarettes are. As if Will didn’t already know that. 

Percy stared at him dumbfounded, but it was Nico that was his saving grace. Always Nico. 

Nico weaved between the other two to hold out a cigarette to Will. He even produced a lighter to light it for Will. “At least one of us is prepared,” he said as if it were a private joke of some kind, a smirk playing at his lips. 

Just the feeling of the cigarette between his fingers made Will relax. He managed to pull himself together enough to eye the teenage boy stood over him; his voice came out weaker than he’d hoped when he spoke. “Are you here to shout at me some more?”

“About that cancer stick in your hand, maybe,” the boy fixed him with the kind of look Will frequently made before softening. “Look, Will, I’m sorry.”

Nico physically relaxed only a few steps away. 

Will nodded. “This is a shock to us all. A couple days ago, I had no idea there even were Gods.”

Lawrence gave him a sympathetic smile, then looked at Nico. “Are you still planning on butchering me tomorrow?”

Nico shrugged. That is, until he took another look at Will’s face. “I might let you live this time.”

Percy clapped a hand on Lawrence’s shoulder. “Come on, Atwood, I’ll walk you back. Annabeth must be almost finished packing.”

As they left, Percy waved to Nico and Will. “You two should come visit sometime.”

“Maybe we will,” Nico smiled. “You better stay alive.”

Percy didn’t answer. The cabin felt smaller somehow once he let the door swing close. 

Nico settled on the bed next to Will and watched him smoke. He didn’t jerk away when Will rested his head on Nico’s shoulder.

“Thank you,” Will whispered.

“What for?”

“Just… thank you.”

He felt Nico brushed his hair back and lean in to press a kiss onto Will’s forehead. Softly, as though he didn’t actually want Will to hear, Nico whispered into the air, “Please stay.”

And Will realised in that morning that he wanted nothing more than to stay. It would take a lot more than a few (rightfully) angry teenagers to take this feeling away from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really appreciate any sort of interaction from people reading this! A huge thank you to anyone who comments, you are my favourite people in the world.


	6. Time to Wake Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite his efforts to learn everything there was to know, Will still finds gaps where he wants things to be clearest. At last, he gets to say what he wants to the man that dragged him into the whole thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If AguaEclipse is reading this, please accept this cuteness as payment for killing Kayla.

Every night Will had another dream about Nico. Most of them were sweet memories: a canoe ride, dinner at the Apollo table, a picnic. Others were of being sat next to Nico in the infirmary, dressing his wounds while Nico stared almost lifeless at the wall over his shoulder. All Will knew for certain was that he had been a lot more to Nico than he could possibly imagine. 

Will never told Nico about the pieces of memories that were resurfacing. If the other man didn’t want to admit they’d been together, Will didn’t want to force him, and he didn’t know nearly enough about Nico to try to figure out a way forward without hurting them both. 

He hadn’t even realised Nico was having strange dreams as well until he’d woken with a start one night to the sound of Nico screaming in the next bed. 

The son of Hades was thrashing and screaming in his sleep, completely tangled in the covers by the time Will saw him. 

“Nico, Nico, wake up,” Will said, as he climbed onto Nico’s bed and pinned down his arms to stop him getting hurt. “It’s okay, you’re okay.”

Nico’s eyes shot open, and, for a second, he struggled more to get Will off him. Before Will even had the chance to let go, Nico went still. He stared up with wide eyes as if not believing what he was seeing. “Will,” he breathed, still lost to the world. 

“You’re okay,” Will soothed. “You’re right here with me.”

Immediately after Will released him, Nico raised a hand to rest against Will’s cheek. Nico smiled, yet he was staring straight through Will. 

Will grasped Nico’s hand and moved it to his lips to kiss the palm. “You with me?”

Nico nodded, blinking away the fog over his eyes. “I was having a nightmare,” he said, his voice so soft Will could barely hear him. 

Will pulled the other man against his chest and held him there. He ran his fingers through Nico’s dark hair until he felt him start to relax against him. Words swam through Will’s head, something he didn’t recognise but understood all the time. He sang the tune under his breath, barely noticing when his hands glowed against Nico’s hair. 

Deep down, Will knew he had sung that exact hymn a thousand times before. He vaguely remembered glowing hands pressed against Nico’s wounds until they were slick with blood. How many times had he held Nico after a nightmare? How many times had he healed wounds he couldn’t see? 

When Nico’s breath evened out with sleep, Will didn’t let go. He kept Nico held in his arms even as he lowered them both under the covers of Nico’s bed. Soon, Will fell asleep curled up against him. 

When he woke the next morning, Nico was already awake. Still in bed, but awake. He was watching Will was a slight smile, chewing his lip as he watched the blond sleep. 

Before Will could say anything, Nico got out of bed and turned his back on Will. He pulled off his shirt, still facing the wall, and deliberately didn’t address the man still sat in his bed. 

“Nico?” Will asked but got no response. 

He sighed and tried again. “Nico di Angelo? Are you going to avoid me all morning?” 

“I thought it was a dream,” Nico’s voice wavered when he addressed Will. “When I woke up and saw you there, I thought it was a dream.” 

“You’ve dreamt of me holding you down during a nightmare?” Will questioned. He stood from the bed and wandered up behind Nico, barely two steps away. If he reached out, they were within touching distance of each other. 

Nico nodded, still refusing to look at him. 

“I’m going to touch you,” Will warned, as he reached out to touch Nico’s arm. 

His words made Nico turn to face him. He allowed himself to be pulled into Will’s arms just like he had the night before. 

“I dreamt of you saving me from the nightmares,” Nico mumbled against Will’s chest. “Just like you used to.”

Will rested his chin on the top of Nico’s head. He couldn’t look at Nico in that moment. He couldn’t figure out how the random man he’d met trying to sneak a cigarette meant so much to him already. He barely knew Nico, certainly didn’t know enough to understand what had happened the night before. 

It felt wrong, to be falling for someone he barely knew. It felt worse to fall for someone who had just dragged him into a life no one seemed to survive. 

Why had Nico done that? 

Did it even matter? He was home. He felt like he was home for the first time in years. 

“Nico,” he said, and for the first time in years he was relieved that Nico wasn’t looking at him. 

“I’m sorry about last night. I really am,” Nico was stumbling over his words until Will shushed him. 

“It’s not that,” Will assured him. “I think I’m falling for you.”

His heart almost stopped when Nico pulled away to hold him at arm’s length. Nico stared up at him a while, searching his face for something. Then he laughed, gentle and undeniably affectionate as it rang in Will’s ears. “You’re only seven years late.”

“Can I kiss you?” Will grinned, earning a smirk from the smaller man. 

“Do you want to kiss me?” 

Will leaned in just in time for Nico to duck under his arm. He spun round to see the son of Hades laughing at him. 

Nico crossed his arms. “The children of Apollo had sword practice now, and that includes you. If you do well, maybe you’ll get that kiss.” 

Will’s face fell. “Have you always been so cruel?”

“That’s the idea, yeah.” Nico pulled a clean shirt over his head. “Come on, Solace. You don’t want to be late.” 

Will was about to argue when Nico threw some clothes at him with a wink. If this was going to be a game, Will was more than happy to play. What’s the worst that could happen?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I love y'all, and I really love reading your comments. 
> 
> Next chapter will probably be very soon since my classes have been cancelled tomorrow.


	7. Game on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico forces Will to sword practice to give him a look at what life is really like at camp. Apparently it's easier to learn how to use a sword when you're twelve.

When Will was told he would be attending sword practice with his old cabin, he didn’t realise Nico meant with actual swords. He found himself staring at the group of kids brandishing actual, real swords while Nico dragged him to the group. 

“Do we have anyone new here?” Nico asked, squinting at the group he’d probably addressed a thousand times before. 

When no one answered, he nodded sagely and tied his hair up out of his eyes. He was wearing a bright orange t-shirt, the same shade as the camp ones, that read: “I survived summer camp, and all I got was this crappy t-shirt,” with the picture of an oak tree printed in between the lines of text. He frowned as if trying to remember something. “Has anyone here had a birthday I need to know about?”

A small girl raised her hand. “I turned ten.”

Nico gestured for the girl to follow him. He stopped to point at Lawrence. “Stay with Will.”

Lawrence sauntered over to stand beside Will while Nico lead the girl away from the training area. The boy stared up at Will a second. “You look spooked,” he commented. 

Will plastered on a smile. “I just wasn’t expecting actual swords.” 

“We don’t give them to everyone.” Lawrence pointed to a couple of children with wooden swords. “You get your first sword when you turn 10.” 

“How old are people when they get here?” Will watched them play. 

Those children knew what it was like to have their lives in danger, he realised with a start. Did any of them know what it was like to be safe?

Lawrence shrugged. He flicked his wrist, so his own sword spun in his hand. “I think the average is twelve. I came here when I was nine. You were my head councillor for a year, you know?” 

Nico came back with the child following close behind. He held out a sword to Will with a smirk. “You need one as well.”

“Is this safe?” Will took the sword from him. 

Nico shrugged. “We’re surrounded by healers. That’s as safe at it gets.” He turned to Lawrence. “Atwood, you’re paired with Will for today.”

Much to Will’s surprised, Lawrence shifted nervously. “Do you want to show me up?”

Nico considered the question. Then he broke out in a smile that seemed to unnerve Lawrence even more. “Actually, yes. Come here.” 

Nico led him into an open space and got the attention of the rest of the cabin. “Atwood here has offered to let me demonstrate for you this morning.”

The blood drained from Lawrence’s face. He took a could of steps away from Nico and readied his sword. “Just because you won a couple wars doesn’t mean you’ll beat me.”

Nico looked genuinely confused for a moment. He frowned for a moment before asking, “How do you even talk to me like that?” 

Before Lawrence could respond, Nico had already disappeared into the closest shadow. Lawrence spun round, still poised to fight, while everyone watched on. He visibly took a breath deep enough to steady him and called out into the air. “You haven’t scared me, di Angelo. I’m still ready.”

Nico stepped out of a shadow directly behind Lawrence and pressed the tip of his against the centre of the boy’s back. “What do we say when the enemy has us pinned?”

Lawrence turned to face him. Instead of trying to knock the sword away, he aimed straight for Nico’s legs. “Not today.”

They were soon in full swing. Nico usually aimed for the chest, lunging to aim for weak points that would be deadly if hit properly, while Lawrence took quick swipes at Nico’s legs to try to take him off balance. One aimed to kill, the other to wound. 

Nico snagged Lawrence’s shirt, making faulter long enough to get close. Soon, Lawrence’s leg was kicked out from underneath him and Nico’s sword was pointed at his chest with a smile. 

Lawrence was smiling too, chest heaving from exertion. He took Nico’s hand when offered and made it back onto his feet soon enough. “I guess there’s something to say about experience.”

“Everyone know what you’re doing?” Nico turned to the rest of the campers and watched them all nod before waving Will over. He rest a hand on Will’s shoulder but spoke to Lawrence. “Go easy on him.”

“Of course,” Lawrence nodded, scanning Will when Nico walked away. 

Will tilted his head to one side, staring back at the teenager. “Did you say, ‘wars’ before?”

Lawrence nodded. “You really don’t remember anything, do you?” He wandered over to nudge Will’s leg with his foot. “Your generation of demigods were the stuff of legends. You won wars, fought titans. Percy Jackson was almost a god himself.”

“Percy Jackson? As in the one I met?” Will tried to copy Lawrence’s stance, almost falling over in the attempt. 

“Try not to face plant,” Lawrence told him right before taking his first swipe. 

Will prayed some sort of muscle memory would kick it right about then. Instead, he found himself running backwards, away from a teenager brandishing a sword.  
He stumbled and ended up on the floor with Lawrence’s sword pointed at his chest. Lawrence pulled him back to his feet and Will readied his sword. “Okay, I got it.” 

“You start off this time.” Lawrence bowed dramatically. 

Will couldn’t help laughing. He lunged for Lawrence, and watched the boy hop back before immediately retaliating. Will found himself too tall to aim for Lawrence’s legs, yet he was reluctant to look for weak spots like Nico had. He settles for trying to take Lawrence out at the arms, seeing if he could make his opponent drop his sword. 

He was only just getting into the swing it. Fighting, Will realised, was a lot like dancing or playing piano. He’d gotten rather good at both while at university. Out of seemingly nowhere, stinging pain shot through his leg; he crumbled with a groan, smacking his head on the floor as he did. 

Then he was somewhere else entirely. 

His bow was broken next to him; he could feel the splinters in his hand. Above him, stood a monster he could no longer name. It was mocking him for being so confident, so sure he was ready. 

Seventeen years old and he’s just walked into his own death for his father. Will thought of Nico laughing at him in the middle of the night, brandishing a sword.  
“One day you’ll be need me when your bow breaks, Solace.” 

And how right he had been. 

The monster came towards him. Everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Usual, I love reading comments and all that. I'm also around on tumblr so y'all can bother me on there at mischiefkingwinkyface 
> 
> Next chapter is going to be explaining what happened seven years ago to make sure Will didn't return to camp. I hope you enjoy.


	8. Some People are Afraid of Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will starts to find answers, and Nico is getting ideas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, it's time I should start outlining what's going to happen when I finish this in a few days. There is a sequel currently being planned, but I want to get a couple of other projects finished before I start on the second half of this. There will be more information soon. 
> 
> If anyone is really dying to know, you can contact me on Tumblr at Mischiefkingwinkyface.

Will didn’t know where he was. It was cold. Water ran over his arms. A finger ran over his lips, leaving more water in its wake. He clamped his lips together and squeezed his eyes closed with a groan. Nico was waiting for him back at camp. He had to get back to Nico. 

“Drink, child,” a soft voice soothed. “You won’t have to worry about anything.”

Will shook his head desperately. Ropes dug into his wrists. Someone needed him. He had to get back to… who? He dug his fingers into the splinters in his palm, trying to hold onto anything. 

The voice spoke again, soft in his ear. “You demigods are always so stubborn.”

Everything was slipping away from him. Dark hair and guarded eyes. Pressing his necklace into someone’s hand. He had promised to return. He had been so confident he would return. 

“What is your name, child?” The voice asked. 

The boy tried to reach for a name but came back with nothing. He knew he needed to return to someone. Dark hair. Cold skin. A black jacket with the pockets always full. There was someone waiting for him. 

The voice spoke one last time, as the boy felt himself slipping away. “All your worries will be gone by the time you wake up, young demigod.”

Everything he was fell away into the darkness. 

Will Solace woke with a start. He jolted upright, causing Lawrence Atwood to almost drop the cup he was holding. 

“You’re awake,” the teenager stated as if Will wouldn’t be able to realise it on his own. 

Will felt himself tremble. He was in a brightly lit cabin with flowers everywhere. There were beds lining the walls and what looked to be some sort of hospital cot in the centre. The last thing he remembered was attempting to practice fighting with Lawrence before hitting the floor and those… dreams. 

He hoped they were dreams. 

“How long was I out?” Will looked down at the leg he was sure had been cut in practice. The leg of his trousers had been taken off, but the wound was now nowhere to be found. 

Lawrence shrugged and perched on the end of his bed. Sometime while Will was unconscious, he’d changed into a blue surgeon’s shirt. “Couple hours. I’ve seen a lot worse though; you’ll be fine.” HE passed the cup to Will with a smile. “It’s just water. I’ll go get Nico.”

As Lawrence left, Will stared down at the cup in his hand. The voice from his dream rang clear in his head: 

“Drink, child.”

Will slammed the cup down on a table next to the bed he was on. It shatter in his hand, leaving him covered in water and shards of porcelain. The water dripped down his arm. He held his breath, waiting for his memories to washed away. 

“I just patched him up,” Lawrence complained while Nico rushed to Will’s side. 

Nico held Will’s face with both his hands. “What’s wrong, Sunshine? What happened?”

Dark hair. Guarded eyes. Cold skin. Will took in every part of the other man. Nico was real. 

“The water,” Will whispered. “It stole me.”

Nico and Lawrence shared a look before apparently deciding they wouldn’t be getting any useful information from Will anytime soon. Instead, Nico sat next to Will on the bed and started telling him about how they’d carried him to the Apollo Cabin when he passed out. 

Once the water was wiped away, and the shards were removed from his hands, Will finally relaxed. “It was the water that did it,” he told Nico. 

Lawrence sat across from them. He folded his hands in his lap. “Did what?”

“Made him forget me,” Nico answered before Will got the chance. “You went to the River Lethe, didn’t you?”

Will stared down at his hands. The nicks from the cup had faded away thanks to Lawrence’s efforts. He dug his nails into his palms until Lawrence reached out touch his arm. 

“None of that,” he chided gently. 

“Go get Chiron,” Nico ordered. 

Will looked over at Nico. 

Dark hair. Guarded eyes. 

“I searched for you even after that water stole you away,” Will whispered. 

Nico stood before dragging Lawrence to the door by his shirt. His lips were moving. The words were too soft to hear, but they were tumbling out. It looked urgent.  
Lawrence nodded once before sprinting out the door. 

“Nico,” Will breathed, “what does this mean?” 

Nico smiled at Will. He crossed over to press a kiss to Will’s forehead. “It means no more sitting around.”

“You count fighting with real swords as ‘sitting around’?” Will raised his eyebrows at Nico. “I did less in a month than I’ve seen you do since we met.”

Nico smirked, but still winced at the mention of how new it all still was to Will. “Guess that means you need to catch up, Solace.”

“You owe me a kiss,” Will pouted, suddenly more at ease now that he was alone with Nico. 

Nico shrugged, the smirk turning into a grin. “You owe me seven years.”

“Are you going to let that go?”

“Never.” Nico tugged at Will’s arm. “Come on, we have work to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Will has uncovered enough memories for them to start looking for answers. Next chapter will be the starting to lead up to what will happen in the fic to follow this one in a week or two. 
> 
> As usual, feel free to comment and all that jazz. I love hearing from people and listening to your theories about what will happen next.


	9. The Prophecy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After learning more about his past, it's time for Will to consult the Oracle.

All the head councillors were waiting at the Big House with Chiron by the time Nico had dragged Will there. A few of them stopped talking to stare when they walked in, and a girl punched Lawrence in the arm.

Will’s hand went to his necklace. He couldn’t stop staring at Chiron.

The guy was a centaur! With the lower half of an actual horse. All through his university education, he had never seen anything so amazing before. Apparently, Nico had missed a lot off his ‘explanation’. At least, a lot more than Will had first realised. He was incredible out of his depth in this room full of seasoned demigods.

An image of Percy and Annabeth was also apparently part of the conversation. That one he recognised. It looked to be one of the Iris Messages Nico had told him about. He hadn’t expected such a clear view of the two older demigods.

“Wow.” Will circled the message. He grinned at Nico. “You never told me how amazing this stuff is!”

A few campers laughed to themselves. The girl next to Lawrence punched his arm again.

Percy laughed along, but Annabeth looked far from amused. She rolled her eyes, “Chiron.”

“Will,” Chiron was the first to properly address him, “I’m afraid we have much work to do. Lawrence here tells me you remember the event that led to you losing your memory.”

Will crouch to peer under the message. “That is fantastic. Can you all do this?”

Nico pulled Will away while everyone stared. “Will, Sunshine, this is important.”

“I have questions,” Will looked to Chiron. “A lot of questions.”

“Don’t we all,” one of the boys grumbled to himself.

Lawrence straightened his back. “Got something to share with the class, Adamson?”

“You want to start, Atwood?” Adamson marched over to Lawrence with purpose. He was at least six inches taller with wide shoulders. Unlike the rest of them, he was wearing a camouflage vest over his t-shirt and appeared to be armed.

To Will’s surprise, Lawrence bared his teeth. “I hope you enjoy rhyming for a month if you don’t back down. What’s your dad going to think if you lose to a poet _again_?”

“One meeting without you two going off would be nice.” The girl next to Lawrence stepped between them. Her grey eyes flickered back and forth between the pair. “The amount of ego in this room, I swear.”

“I like her,” Will whispered to Nico, earning a laugh.

Chiron let out an exasperated sigh. “If you would both kindly save this conversation for later? We have more important things to discuss.”

Adamson backed off. He sneered at Lawrence. “We can finish this later.”

Lawrence flipped him off.

The girl pulled his hand down before a physical fight broke out.

Nico snorted beside Will. He leaned in to whisper, “Jack Adamson is from the Ares Cabin. The girl is Brooke Bullard, head of the Athena Cabin.”

Brooke turned to Will before anyone else had the chance to speak. “What do you remember then?”

All eyes were back on Will. He only vaguely felt Nico’s hand on his arm. He felt the words catch in his throat. “Just someone’s voice in my ear and… water.”

Half the room shared looks Will couldn’t decipher. Annabeth walked fully away from the Iris Message. It was only Chiron that seemed to hold himself together. “I think you need to consult the oracle.”

A few of the campers nodded, Lawrence included.

Will tried to grab onto any information about the oracle but came up blank. He shot Nico a panicked link.

Nico’s hand moved to grip his hand. “I’ll walk him down to the cave.”

“Cave?” Will repeated. His heart was ready to jump out of his chest.

He was already being pulled from the room. He allowed Nico to pulled him along, too busy worrying about what was about to happen. “Where exactly are we going?” Wil asked. “Nico? I don’t understand.”

Nico continued to drag him alone until they stopped outside a case with a curtain over the entrance. He turned to Will and grasped both his hands. “Her name is Rachel. Just go in, ask for a Prophecy, and meet me out here.”

“You’re not coming with me?” Will glanced towards the curtain.

Nico shook his head. He released Will’s hands and stepped away. “You and Rachel liked each other.”

That was something at least. With any luck, Rachel wouldn’t be as terrifying as he feared.

Will hugged Nico tight. “Promise me you’ll be right here?”

“Can’t breath,” Nico gasped, laughing quietly. He wriggled away from Will. “I’m not leaving.”

“Kiss for luck?”

“Sooner you go in, the sooner it’s over.”

Will groaned. Leaving Nico outside, he pushed the curtain aside and stepped inside. “Hello?” He called at the seemingly empty space.

A woman stood up from where she’d obviously been sat on the floor painting. “William Solace,” she gasped, grinning from ear to ear. “I thought you were dead!”

“Just confused,” Will admitted. “Nico told me your name is Rachel?”

Her smile faded. “You don’t remember?”

“Completely blank before I was seventeen,” Will shrugged apologetically. “Chiron sent me. Something about a prophecy?”

“Yes! Of course!” Rachel brushed herself off and sat on the stool. “Just give me a second to get into it-”

Green smoke seemed to come from nowhere in particular. An eerie voice spoke out of turn, the sound grating in Will’s ears. It said:

“Two shall go without a third.

Go to where a voice last heard.

Find the child who has been lost,

And learn to pay the greatest cost.

The Ghost King’s reign asked to end

with only the sun to see the bend.”

Even as the smoke cleared, the room didn’t regain focus. Will felt his knees buckle, and there was the distance sound of Rachel shouting for Nico. The voice from his dream was whispering in his ear, telling him to let go. Everything would be easier if he just let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is the final one! Are you excited? I am. There'll be about a week before I start on the sequel so I can do some in-depth prophecy analysis for continuity. I'm planning on calling the sequel "Forgetting was Easy". 
> 
> As usual, I love seeing comments! And if anyone wants to bug me outside of the comments, feel free to on Tumblr at Mischiefkingwinkyface.


	10. Take Me with You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In their final minutes at Camp Half-Blood, Will and Nico consider the way forward. Will tries to figure out his second first quest while Nico holds the strength for them both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good job I don't have to write any poems for this chapter. The prophecy was the first poem I'd written in a rhyme scheme since forever.

Will leaned on a windowsill in Cabin Thirteen with a cigarette in his hand while Nico packed bags behind him. He stared out over the campers walking too and from their activities with a heavy heart. Was this all going to end so soon?

_Two shall go without a third._

It was only him and Nico setting out on this ‘quest’, as everyone called it. Nico was so ready, so strong. He’d been talking strategy since before they even made it back to the Big House. Everything would be okay as long as Nico would stay by his side, Will knew that.

Strong arms wrapped around Will’s waist, and he felt Nico’s forehead press against his back. “You’re not leaving without me this time.”

“I’m not,” Will told him. “I don’t think I could live without you again.”

He gripped Nico’s arm with his free hand. Cool skin pressed against his own kept him in the room. He couldn’t afford to lose himself anymore.

“Look at me, Will?” Nico asked, his voice muffled against Will’s shirt.

Will eased himself out of Nico’s grip to face him. He pressed his lips to Nico’s forehead with a sigh. “How can you be so sure of all this? We could die or be lost. Anything could happen. Anything did happen once.” 

He hadn’t noticed the words stumbling over each other as they came out, nor did his hear his voice edging higher. It wasn’t until Nico rested a hand on his cheek that Will felt silent, his chest heaving.

“Sunshine,” Nico whispered, “I refuse to lose you again. I’d rather die with you than live without you, understand?”

Will nodded.

“I can’t sit around and wait to see if you disappear again. I just can’t.” Nico rested his head against Will’s chest. “I don’t like sitting around.”

Will chuckled. “What we’re doing is the opposite of sitting around. We’re going out into the world to fight this thing with what? A poem?”

That comment made Nico laugh. “Di immortales. We’re going out there with more than just a poem.”

“If you haven’t noticed, I’m not great at the fighting bit.”

“I’m good at the fighting bit,” Nico offered, still laughing. “I have a sword and everything.”

“This isn’t a joke, Nico,” Will scolded.

Nico stopped laughing. His expression turned serious. “I have fought on the front line of wars, plural. We will be fine.”

“Promise?”

“Of course.”

“Give me your necklace,” Will ordered, taking off his own.

Nico frowned but did what he was told. He placed the chord in Will’s waiting hand.

Will tied his own necklace around Nico’s neck before putting the other one himself. “There, now we have to come back.”

“It didn’t work last time.”

“I came back eventually.” Will rested his chin on the top of Nico’s head.

Against him, Nico shook his head. “Not soon enough.”

Will stepped back. He hooked one finger under Nico’s chin to tip his head up. Before he could doubt what he was doing, he pressed a kiss to Nico’s lips.

Nico leaned into the kiss. The moment they parted, he stared up at Will with trusting eyes. “Was that for good luck or to remember me by?”

“You are so dense,” Will started laughing. “You know that?”

“You’ve told me that before,” Nico chuckled. He melted back into Will’s arms.

Will closed his eyes. He didn’t want to go. What would happen if Nico came back without him? What would happen if he came back without Nico? He took a deep breath. That wasn’t going to happen. He wouldn’t let it, not this time.

“Are you ready?” Nico asked.

Will nodded. “I think so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it, the end. The sequel will be started in about a week. Until then, feel free to check out 'Blood Red Hyacinths' or 'Tales of The Apollo Cabin' for more solangelo. If you liked the writing style, my name is Eden Selvedge, and I've just put tasters for my debut novel on here if anyone wants to check that out! 
> 
> Feel free to get in contact on tumblr at Mischiefkingwinkyface or on twitter and instagram at eselvedge. 
> 
> Love y'all, and I'll see you soon.


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